By: AJ McClellan
Today was quite the day at Graileys! Not only did we have a great lineup of world class wines but we also got a surprise visit from Willie Nelson and Pig Floyd… Yes, they are miniature pot belly pigs. It was interesting to watch everyone in the place automatically gravitate to the little pigs as soon as they walked in the door. We might have to get one to live in Graileys and represent us as a mascot…
1994 Dominus – This bottle has always been one of my favorites out of Napa. The nose is almost a perfect replica for Bordeaux with soft earthy notes of moist moss and dried leaves. The only thing that gives the wine away is the plush ripe black fruit that hovers in the forefront of the palate. There is also a slight green note to this wine that I find very attractive, like someone dusted the glass with powdered bell peppers….
1998 Lalou Bize Leroy d’Auvenay Meursault Les Narvaux – This is another bottle of wine that I absolutely love – honeysuckle, quince, limestone, slate, pear, and a brilliantly intergraded note of toast. If Madam Leroy can do this with a 1er from Meursault, I would love to see what she can do with some le Montrachet…. yummm…..
1989 Troplong Mondot – Corked.
NV Perrier Jouet NV – For the price point I think there are much better wines. The nose was very forward and lacking in finesse, the palate was abrasive, and the finish was weak….
2004 Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne Brut – Of the three Perrier Jouet we tasted, the Brut was showing the best. Green pear on the nose with a substantial backing of sourdough bread and a pleasant touch of minerality on the back end.
2004 Pierrer Jouet Fleur de Champagne Rose – After tasting the outstanding 02 Rose last year the 04 was a bit of a letdown. The wine was still delicious but the standard set by the 02 is a high bar to compete with… The nose showed pretty floral notes of rose petals and lilies. There was a subtle hint of strawberries on the palate with a pleasant minerality on the finish.
2007 Numanthia Termes – A powerful bottle of wine with black fruits on the nose and a palate of cedar, tar, and leather.
2009 Pickup Sticks – Another blockbuster but while the tannins were very powerful they were also well developed for such a youthful wine. Plum, black cherries, and liquorish on the palate with a finish of tobacco smoke.
2008 Larcis Ducasse – With the company of so many big and bold wines, the Ducasse was showing rather elegantly. I decanted the wine for three hours before service and it significantly helped the wine to open up. The nose showed forest floor and fresh earth with big black fruit and a gravely minerality. The palate was seamless; with great fruit notes and complex layers of minerality and spice finishing with big puckering tannins (although next to the Babylon the tannins were rather tame).
2008 Scholium Project Gardens of Babylon – Now this is a massive wine… Big black fruits with notes of cedar, pine, anise, clove, dill, and big lavender on the nose. The palate was enormous to say the least; big sweet fruits keep the wine from sucking your face off but it was still a challenge for me to drink the whole glass. This wine shows a lot of potential but it needs either 24 hours in a decanter or a good decade in the bottle.
2008 Robert Foley Merlot – As always, I was very impressed with this bottle. The nose showed deep black cherries notes accented with liquorish and cigar smoke. There was a very nice complexity on the palate mixing dark berries with dark chocolate and infusing it with a hint of smoke and dark red rose petals.
2007 Bruno Clavelier La Combe Burlee – It is refreshing to taste a wine that is so elegant after the big beasty wines that we had been drinking all day. Although after that Babylon, this wine was almost like taking a sip of water…. A soft floral nose showing freshly picked raspberries and a subtle hint of milk chocolate and whole vanilla beans. This is the kind of wine I could drink all day and never get tired of. The palate was very light and soft showing a wonderful array of light red fruits and limestone minerality with the ever so light hint of toast and vanilla from its limited time in the barrel.
2007 Vicarious – Back to the “Big Boy Reds”…. The Vicarious is a very well put together wine with notes of lavender, plum, red cherry, and tobacco. I am especially impressed with the light handed oak and excellent balance of the wine, not to mention a very nice finish…
2008 Barbour Cabernet – This was my second time to try this wine, and it was just as good as I remember it being. Soft red and black fruits with a substantial dose of milk chocolate and a pleasant tannic structure that was well intergraded into the wine.